Drawer slide for cabinets



0. D. PREMO DRAWER SLIDE FOR CABINETS July 29, .1941.

Filed July 17, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet l l E a l a INVENTOR.

A TTORNEYS.

July 29, 1941. o. D. PREMO 2,250,895

DRAWER SLIDE FOR CABINETS Filed July '17, l939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 0werzD.Henw IN VEN TOR.

ATTORNEYS.

Patented July 29, 1941 UNI TED STATES PAT EN '5 Q FFI C- DRAWER SLIDEson CABINETS Owen 1). Promo, Muskegon' Heights, Mich. Application'July17', 1939, Serial No. 234,990

2 Claims.

This invention relates to drawer slides especially designed for use infiling cabinets or the like, the primary object of the invention beingto provide a drawer slide including ball bearings arranged in such a waythat the drawer operating over the slide will move freely, underexcessive weight.

An important object of the invention is to provide a drawer slideembodying telescoping sections and ball bearings arranged between thesections, the guides being so constructed that one section may beextended'beyond the other section to the end that the entire drawerspace will be available for filing,and' that easy' access'will be had tothe files or articles disposed at the rear end of the drawer. Y

Another object of the invention is to provide means wherebythem'oveinents of the drawer sections will'be restricted, with respectto each other,

eliminating any possibility of the drawer be-' ing extended too far. I

With the foregoing" and other objects in view,

which will appear as the description proceeds; the

invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and. inthe details of con-' struction hereinafter described and claimed, itbeing understood that changes in the precise embodiment of. theinvention herein described, may be made within the scope of what isclaimed, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Referring to the drawings: 1

Figure'l is a vertical sectional view drawer slide constructed inaccordance with the invention. 1

Figure 2 is 'a sectional view taken online 2 Z' of Figure 1. t

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional View through a modified form of theinvention. 3 I

Figure 4 is a sectional view through a further modified form of drawerslide.

Figure 5 is a sectional View taken on line of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a sectional View taken on line 6-6 of Figure 4.

Figure '7 is a perspective view illustrating the extensible sections ofthe slide.

Figure 8 is a View illustrating a modified form of ball retaining means.

Figure 9 is a sectional view through another form of ball supportingmeans.

Figure 10 is a vertical sectional View through a still further form of.ball supporting means.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the reference character 5designates a filing cabinet through a equipped with drawer'slidesconstructed in ac cordance with the invention.

The reference character 6 designates. the drawer which carries onesection of the slide.

The slide comprises an outer channel bar I which is secured to the innersurface or wall of the'cabinet 5, so that theopen side of the channelbar will be disposed inwardly. It will of course be understood thatchannel bars such as indicated at I, are arranged on opposite sides ofthe cabinet, and are of lengths to extend substanially the entire widthof the cabinet, as shown by Figurel of the drawings.

The flanges 8 and 9 of the outer channel bar 1 are formed withdepressions 16 near the front ends thereof, and are also formed withdepressions ll arranged near the inner ends, the depressions beingdesigned to receive the balls l2 to restrict movement of the drawermovable on the slides. The inner section of the slide is indicated bythe reference character [3, and this section is secured to the drawer 6,as shown by Figure-2 of the drawings; The flange M formed along one edgeof the inner section l3 rests against the outersurface of the'drawer 6,while the lower flange l5 of the inner sectionis secured to the bottomof the drawer 6. The construction of the inner section is such that itprovides an elongated housing within the confines of the flanges 8 and fthe outer channel bar,

the upper and lower walls of the housing being formed with openingsintoWhic'h the balls l5;

extend, the balls being held in position by means of the coiled springsI? in the ends of'which the balls I 6 rest.

The openings at the inner end of the inner section l3 are of diametersto allow the balls l6" supported at the inner ends of the slide, toextend therethrcugh and move intothe depressions H at the rear end ofthe outer channel bar, when the drawer has been moved inwardly to itslimit. The balls resting in the offset portions or depressions I I willprovide a temporary holding means to hold the drawer against outwardmovement under slight pressure. i

When the drawer has been moved outwardly, it will be obvious that theballs l2 will move into the depressions Ill, temporarily holding thedrawer against movement to withdraw the drawer from .the cabinet.

In the form of the invention as shown' by Figure 3 of the drawings, theouter channel bar is indicated by the reference character 18, the innerchannel bar of the slide being indicated by the reference character I9,the outwardly extended flanges 20 of the channel bar l9 being disposedbetween the channel bars 2| of the outer channel bar l8.

In this form of the invention the flanges 21 are also provided withdepressions 22 for the reception of the balls 23, to provide temporaryholding means for the drawer.

An extension drawer slide is shown by sheet 2 of the drawings, and inthis form of the invention, the outer channel bar is indicated by thereference character 24, the channel bar being secured to the cabinet sothat the open side thereof extends inwardly. The upper and lower flangesof the outer channel bar are formed with depressions 25 and 26, thedepressions 25 being formed adjacent to the inner end of the flanges,while the depressions 26 are formed near the forward ends thereof.Operating between the flanges of the outer channel bar 24, is a channelmember 21 which is provided with a plurality of openings 28 throughwhich the balls 29 extend, the openings 28 being of diameters so thatonly portions of the balls will be permitted to extend through theopenings. In connection with the openings, it might be stated that theopenings of the channel member 21 adjacent to the inner end of thechannel member are of diameters to allow the balls associated therewith,to extend through the openings so that they may engage within thedepressions 25 and 26 when the channel member 21 moves to bring theballs at the inner end of the channel member 21, opposite to thedepressions.

As clearly shown by Figure 6 of the drawings, the channel member 21 isprovided with inwardly extended parallel flanges 30, between which thechannel member 3| operates, the channel member 3| being secured to thedrawer, which in the present showing is indicated at 32. The channelmember 3| has outwardly extended parallel flanges 32' that cooperatewith the flanges 30, in securing the drawer in position. Extendingupwardly from the channel member 3|, is a stop 33 which is adapted toengage either the stop 34 or the stop 35 carried by the channel member21. These stops 34 and 35 lie in the path of travel of the stop 33, andwhen the drawer is moved outwardly, the stop 33 will move intoengagement with the stop 35. Upon further outward movement of thedrawer, the channel member 2! will be extended until the innermost ballsthereof, engage in the depressions 26, to hold the drawer againstfurther movement.

When the drawer is returned to its closed position, the stop 33 willengage the stop 34 moving the channel bar 2'! to its normal or closedposition.

As shown by Figure 8 of the drawings, the balls which are indicated bythe reference character 36 are mounted in sockets formed in the bearings31 that are urged away from each other by means of the spring 38.

In the form of ball support as shown by Figure 9, the members 39 areforced away from each other by means of the rubber block 40.

As shown by Figure 10, the balls which are indicated at 4!, rest indepressions formed in the members 42, and the members 42 are held apartby means of the coiled spring 43 which is mounted between the members 44that provide a housing for the spring.

While I have shown and described a drawer slide at one side of a drawer,it is to be understood that the structure is duplicated at the oppositeside of the drawer so that the drawer will be held in perfect balance atall times.

From the foregoing it will be seen that due to the construction shownand described, the drawer which may be heavy with files, may be readilymoved to its outward position, and because of the construction of theextension guide, the entire inner surface of the drawer is available forstoring files, at the same time insuring easy access to the files at theinner end of the drawer.

What is claimed is:

1. A device of the class described, comprising an outer stationarychannel bar having inwardly extended flanges formed along thelongitudinal edges, longitudinally disposed grooves formed in theflanges, said grooves having depressions arranged in spaced relationwith respect to each other, longitudinally of the grooves, an innermovable member operating within the stationary channel bar and havingspaced flanges, said flanges having openings formed therein, ballsmounted within the openings, springs arranged between the balls andnormally urging the balls away from each other, said balls operating inthe grooves of the flanges of the outer stationary channel member andadapted to move into the depressions restricting movement of the innermovable member with respect to the stationary channel bar.

2. In a device of the character described, an outer stationary channelmember having its open side disposed inwardly, the flanges of thechannel member having grooves formed longitudinally thereof and disposedin the inner surfaces of the flanges, a movable channel member slidablymounted within the outer channel member, said movable channel memberhaving opposed flanges formed with openings arranged in spaced relationwith each other throughout the lengths of the flanges, springs disposedbetween the flanges of the inner channel member, balls mounted in theends of the springs and extended through the openings of the flanges ofthe inner 'chan-' nel member, said balls moving through the grooves ofthe flanges of the stationary channel member, and said grooves havingdepressions near the ends thereof into which the balls move, restrictingmovement of the inner channel member, with respect to the stationarychannel member.

OWEN D. PREMO.

